Essential Questions:

1.  How were Krakauer and McCandless kindred spirits?

2.  What evidence exists that tensions between fathers and sons is a theme of this work?

3.  What is gained or lost by the epigraphs which begin each chapter?

4.  Compare Chris McCandless to Jack London and Henry David Thoreau.

5.  Do you agree or disagree with McCandless's actions?  Be specific about which actions and explain your rationale. 

Links: 

Read a brief biography about Jon Krakauer and listen to audioclips from the book. 

Read an interview with Jon Krakauer in which he discusses his writing career and his mountain climbing experiences.  (This is a bit more suited to a study of Into Thin Air, a Krakauer work about the experience of climbers on Mount Everest.)

Read emails from Krakauer when he was climbing Everest in 1996.